As we reach the end of the year, it's a good time to look back and draw a line between the best tech product launches of 2013 and the rest of the pack. The final weeks of December are generally void of big product announcements, yet only two weeks later, we're set to be bombarded with new gadgets at CES.

Leveraging the power of TechSpot's Product Finder, here come 2013's most popular and noteworthy tech products across 14 categories (only products released this year or very late into 2012 apply). You'll find aggregated review scores on each of the 75 product picks along with a brief commentary and more detailed information upon clicking on any of them.

Cases

The BitFenix Prodigy M is a gaming-oriented Micro ATX and Mini-ITX case. It features the same SofTouch surface treatment as its predecessor as well as FyberFlex handles. The Prodigy M supports four 3.5" bays or five 2.5" bays, the Power Supply connects with a unique cable (provided) to ...

The Cooler Master HAF XB I/O panel has a large rectangular power button followed by the smaller rectangular reset button, two audio jacks and a pair of USB 3.0 ports. Inside is a large amount of room under the motherboard tray considering the HAF XB only accommodates two 5.25" drives, two 3....

The Corsair Carbide Air 540 is a computer case featuring dual internal chambers. The one on the left holds the motherboard (up to Extended ATX) as well as the 3.5” hard drive bays which sit in the floor of the chassis. The other chamber plays host to the power supply, two 5.25” drive ...

The In Win D-Frame supports four 120mm fans, power supplies as long as 220mm, graphics cards measuring up to 330mm and CPU heatsinks as tall as 160mm. In the inside, the D-Frame supports three 3.5" drives along with two 2.5" drives. Last but not least, the front panel includes a pair of...

The Arc Midi R2 is the sucessor of original Fractal Design's Arc Midi. It is a full steel ATX mid tower that features 8 internal 3.5" drive bays, 2 external 5.25" drive bays, easy to clean dust filters and plenty of space for cable routing.

The Corsair Obsidian 350D is an affordable microATX case sporting the same black brushed-aluminum finish, handy tool-free design and innovative cable management of it's predeccesor. The 350D features two 5.25" external drive bays, a large grill that can support a pair of 120mm ...

The Cooler Master Centurion 6 is a mid-tower gaming case. The Centurion 6 features three 5.25" external drive bays and seven 3.5" internal drive bays. It also supports all high-end graphics cards up to 405mm, USB 3.0, liquid cooling and up to 9 fans, including one pre-ins...

The Lian Li PC-D8000 features a sleek brushed black aluminum bezel with six 5.25" drive bays, one acting as the front I/O panel, which is removable without any tools and allows access to the D8000's 20 drive bays. The I/O panel occupies a 5.25" bay and four USB 3.0 ports as well as ...

Graphics Cards

The Radeon R9 290 is the non-X version of the company's flagship GPU, offering the greatest bang for your buck if you are looking for a top performing, high-end GPU. It features 4GB GDDR5 of RAM and 512-bit bus for 320GB/s of bandwidth. The R9 290 supports a max resolution of 2560x1600 on up to three monitors as well as Ultra HD (also known as 4K) over both HDMI 1.4b and DisplayPort 1.2.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti is the top-tier graphics card in the GeForce 700 series, it features a fully unlocked GK110 GPU core with all 2880 CUDA cores, 240 TMUs and 48 ROPs. The GTX 780 Ti sports 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM on a 384-bit bus, two DVI ports, a HDMI port and a DisplayPort and requi...

The AMD Radeon HD 7790 GPU core runs at 1GHz while its GDDR5 memory is at 1500MHz, this GPU also carries 896 SPUs, 56 TAUs and 16 ROPs. The HD 7790 operates at near silence because even under load it only draws 85 watts and as little as 3 watts at idle.

The Radeon R9 270X is a mainstream priced GPU supporting DirectX 11.2 along with AMD’s Mantle. It uses the 28nm design, packs 1280 SPU’s, 80 TAU’s and 32 ROP’s. Last but not least, the R9 270X comes with 2GB of RAM, though 4GB will be an option on some cards despite being pointless for this GPU.

The Kone Pure is the flagship gaming mice from Roccat. It features a Pro-Aim laser sensor R3 with up to 8200dpi, seven customizables buttons, customisable lighting and 576KB of on-board memory for storing macros and settings. Last but not least, the Kone Pure comes in Black, Phantom White, I...

The BlackWidow Ultimate 2013 is part of Razer's top-of-the-line mechanical gaming keyboard. The BlackWidow Ultimate 2013 features MX Cherry Brown switches, anti-ghosting and a green glowing backlight. Last but not least, the BlackWidow sports five additional macro keys, Razer S...

Monitors

Should you choose to drop a load of cash on this immoderate monitor, you’ll be one of the first to have a consumer grade 4k display. The PQ321Q features a 3840 x 2160 resolution (140ppi), which is four times greater than a 1080p monitor. Other key technical specs: 176-degree viewing angle, ...

Motherboards

The Asus Z87 Deluxe is a premium motherboard with a Z87 chipset for use with Intel's Haswell processors. It features two Thunderbolt 2 ports capable of up to 20 Gbit/s transfers and an HDMI port, making possible power three 4K monitors simultaneously without a discrete graphics card, also the...

The MSI Z87 MPower is a motherboard based on the Z87 Express chipset by Intel. The Z87 MPower sports Wifi, Bluetooth, and WIDI solution. It supports up to 8 SATA devices and 8 USB 3.0 ports, 3-Way CrossfireX and 2-Way SLI are supported. Last but not least, the Z87 MPower features triple display c...

The Gigabyte Z87X-OC is a motherboard that uses the Intel Z87 chipset and is compatible with Intel’s 4th-generation 'Haswell' processors. It packs Intel's LGA1150 socket, six SATA3 slots, up to 32GB of RAM, four PCI-E x16 slots, two legacy PCI slots and a single PCI-E x1 slot. L...

Routers

The RT-AC68U is the sucessor of Asus' highly regarded RT-AC66U router. The RT-AC68U supports 802.11a, b, and g, three removable antennas and a pair of USB ports -- one of which is USB 3.0 -- for printing, file-sharing and 3G adapter connection.

The AirPort Extreme is the latest flagship wireless router from Apple. The AirPort Extreme features 802.11a/b/g/n/ac connectivity, simultaneous dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz, an USB 2.0 port for connecting a printer or hard drive and three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports.

Storage

The Samsung 840 Evo is the latest member to its highly-regarded SSD 840 range, optimizing for both performance and pricing. The 840 EVO sports 19nm 128Gb TLC NAND, proprietary firmware and the latest-gen multi-core MEX controller. The 840 Evo features in 120GB and 250GB capacities speeds of 520MB/s, and in its top capacities of 500GB, 750GB and...

WD's own twist to the hybrid hard drive, the Black2 is a dual drive solution, fusing individual 120GB solid-state and 1TB 5400rpm mechanical drives into a single 2.5-inch package. The Black^2 will be seen as two separate drives on your system, even though they share the same SATA 6Gb/s connector and take a single slot, meaning it can fit in your laptop as a faster disk replacement without issue.

The WD My Cloud is an external HDD that works as a home-based cloud storage device or an entertainment media hub allowing users to stream video content and music to any DLNA-certified media device. It comes in 2TB, 3TB and 4TB versions. My Cloud is ready for Windows and Mac right out of the box a...

The Synology Disk Station DS213j is a 2-bay NAS device with a 1.2GHz Marvell Armada 370 CPU and 512MB of RAM. The DS213j supports two 3.5" drives, two 2.5" drives or a combination of both. Last but not least, the DS213j comes with a 2-year warranty.

The OCZ Vector 150 is an evolutionary step forward for OCZ's enthusiast series, improving the original Vector's endurance and security. The Vector 150 is armed with the Indilinx Barefoot 3 M00 controller and comes in three versions, 120GB, 240GB and 480GB. It features a read and...

The M500 is the successor of Crucial's M4. It uses Micron’s latest 20-nanometer multilevel cell (MLC) NAND flash technology and can deliver up to 80,000 IOPS with sequential read and write speeds topping out at 500 MB/s and 400 MB/sec. The drives also incorporate TCG Opal 2.0 ...

Processors

The Core i5 4670K is a member of Intel’s new Haswell line of processors. It carries an 84W TDP and features four cores and four concurrent threads. The 4670K operates at 3.40GHz with a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.80GHz and sports a 6MB L3 cache. Last but not least, the 4670K uses t...

The AMD A10-6800K is a Quad core CPU of the new A series. The A10-6800K packs 4MB of cache and Dual-channel DDR3-2133 memory support. It features clock speeds of 4.10GHz, with Max Turbo frequency of 4.40GHz.. The A10-6800K also offers a boost in the GPU operating clock speed at 844MHz.

Intel Core i7 4770K features 4 cores with 8 concurrent threads when using Hyper-Threading. The 4770K operates at 3.50GHz with a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.90GHz, while the non-K version features the same Turbo Boost frequency with a base clock of 3.4GHz. They are designed to work with DDR3-1333/1...

Desktop PCs

The Dell XPS One 27 Touch is close to the pinnacle of all-in-one desktops, with a price tag to match. With a Blu-ray player, a Quad HD resolution display, and bags of high-end power, the XPS One 27 Touch is a great choice for users who want to use...

The 2013 27-inch iMac features a 3.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 and Nvidia GeForce GTX 755M for $1,799; or with a 3.4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 and the same Nvidia chip, up to 32GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM, and up to 1TB of all-flash storage or 3TB of Fusion storage combining traditional hard drives with SSD.

Laptops

The MacBook Pro 15-inch is fitted with Intel's quad-core Crystalwell processor (a variant of Haswell) that adds Iris Pro graphics and 128MB of eDRAM on-package. There are two versions, one with no discrete graphics and a second one with a GeForce GT 750M with 2GB of RAM. Last but not least, t...

The Aspire S7-392 is the sucessor of Acer's S7-391. The S7-392 features a 1.6GHZ Intel Core i5, 8 GB of RAM, a SSD with 128 GB of capacity, a 13.3 inches (1920 x 1080p) touch screen and Windows 8. Other conectivity options include USB 3.0, a SD card reader, HDMI and

The Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus comes equipped with a 13.3-inch SuperBright+ touch screen with 350nits of brightness and 10-point touch input - all operating at a resolution of 3,200 x 1,800 (275 PPI). The ATIV Book 9 plus is powered by a dual-core i5-4200U Haswell chip ticking along at 1...

The IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro is the successor for Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga 13. The yoga Pro 2 can be used in different modes - laptop, tablet and tent. It is powered by an Intel Core i5-4200U 1.6-GHz, 4GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD and Windows 8.1. The Yoga Pro 2 sports a 13.3" (3200...

The Apple MacBook Air 2013 is a refreshed version of the skinny laptop with the latest Haswell processor. The MacBook Air uses the ULT variants of the chip, which should result in 40% faster graphics and much improved battery life. Also new is support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi, the faster and not-yet-fi...

The Alienware 14 is a redesigned gaming laptop with a new magnesium alloy and aluminum casing. It is powered by an Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia GT 765M, 16 GB of RAM, 750GB HDD in combo with 256GB SSD. Other features includes a 1080p display, Blu-ray drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0.

The IdeaPad Y500 is an affordable yet powerful gaming laptop from Lenovo. The Y500 features a 2.4-GHz Intel Core i7-3630QM processor, 16GB of RAM and 1TB HDD with a 16GB SSD. It also sports Windows 8 and a 15.6" (1920 x 1080p) display powered by a GeForce GT 650M. Last but not least, the ...

Tablets

The Nexus 7 (2nd Gen) is the revised, all-around improved version of last year's popular Nexus 7. The tablet features the same 7-inch display as the model it replaces although the screen resolution has been boosted to 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. A 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro chip powers the device alongside 2GB of RAM. Other...

The iPad mini with Retina display is powered by a 64 bit CPU with Apple's A7 chip, meaning it's just as powerful as the full sized iPar Air. The iPad mini with Retina Display comes in two versions, the Wi-Fi model and a cellular version. It comes in 16GB or 128GB configurations.

The Surface Pro 2 is the follow up to last year’s Surface tablet from Microsoft. The Surface Pro 2 is powered by an Intel Haswell processor and comes in different versions, 64GB and 128GB of storage with 4GB of RAM, as well as 256GB and 512GB editions with 8GB of RAM. Last but not least, th...

The Amazon Kindle HDX 8.9 is the latest flagship tablet from Amazon, it is powered by a Snapdragon 800 CPU running at 2.2 GHz, a 8.9-inch 2560×1600 display, dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus, an 8MP rear-facing camera and the option for 4G LTE wireless. Amazon also incorporates a ...

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is fully waterproof. The Xperia Z is powered by a Snapdragon S4 Pro running at 1.5Ghz, 2GB of RAM and has 16GB or 32 GB of storage. It's only 6.9mm thick and 495 grams. It also features a 10-inch (1,920 x 1,200) with 224ppi display.

Smartphones

The Note 3 is part of Samsung's ever-expanding Galaxy line. It features a new soft textured leather-like plastic cover, a 5.7-inch SuperAMOLED 1080p display, a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU for LTE models or a 1.9GHz Samsung Exynos Octacore for 3G variants, a 13MP rear-facing camera, a microSD ex...

The Nexus 5 is a the latest flagship smartphone in the Google Nexus family. The Nexus 5 ships with Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box and features a 4.95-inch full HD IPS display covered in Gorilla Glass 3 that operates at 1,920 x 1,080 (445 PPI), a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and 4G LTE connectivity.

The HTC One represents the firm’s latest attempt to regain lost ground in the smartphone market. It is made entirely of aluminum and boasts a large 4.7-inch full HD 1080p display with 468 PPI flanked by two speaker strips with integrated amplifiers. Inside is a 1.7-GHz, quad-core Snapdragon...

The Xperia Z1 comes with a 5-inch 1080p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, featuring a 2.2 GHz quad-core and Adreno 330 GPU. There's also 2 GB of RAM as well as 16 GB of storage expandable through the microSD. One of its most unique features, the X1 is waterproof...

The iPhone 5s is the Apple’s latest flagship handset. The iPhone 5s is powered by a first of its kind 64-bit A7 processor and the same 4" Retina display as its predecessor. It also includes a fingerprint reader dubbed Touch ID, HD video capture at 720p at 120FPS that can also perform s...

The LG G2 is the company's flagship Android handset and spiritual successor to the Google Nexus 4. It packs a 5.2" display with a 1,080 x 1,920 resolution and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU clocked at 2.26GHz, 2GB of RAM, option for 16GB or 32GB of internal flash, a 13 MP rear camera...

The Moto G is a low cost Android smartphone from Google-owned Motorola. It features a 4.5-inch, 720p (329 PPI) LCD TFT display, a quad-core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM and 5-megapixel shooter along with a 2,070mAh battery. The Moto G is launching with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and the promise of an Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a continuation of its previous design, but it's a sleeker and more current version of it. The S4 features a 1.9 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, 2GB of RAM, and a 5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. The S4 also packs 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, IR LED Remote ...

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is the first smartphone featuring a 41 MegaPixels rear camera and 2-MP front-facing camera with a wide-angle lens. The Lumia 1020 is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, along with a 4.5-inch 720p Super...

The FinePix X100S is the successor to the Fujifilm FinePix X100. The X100S features a 16.3MP APS-C CMOS II sensor, panoramic swept images, EXR Processor II and a Hybrid Viewfinder (OVF / EVF). Last but not least, the X100S captures 1080/60p and 1080/30p videos with its built-in ste...

The D7100 is Nikon's latest APS-C DSLR to feature a 24MP sensor. It features EXPEED 3 processing, ISO 100-6400 standard, up to 25600 expanded and a maximium continuous shooting of 6 fps in DX mode. The D7100 also boast full HD recording with its built-in stereo mic.

The GoPro Hero 3+ is available in Black and Silver editions. The Hero 3+ increases the field of view and features full 4k cinema resolution capabilities at 12fps. 2.7k resolution can be recorded at 30fps while 1080p video is stored at 60fps. The Hero 3 captures sill images as well at 12-megapixel...

The NX300 is Samsung's latest flagship NX series camera. It features a 20.3MP APS-CMOS sensor, ISO from 100-25600, and a 3.31-inch AMOLED screen. The NX300 also boast up to 8.6fps continuous shooting speed and full HD video capture at 50, 25 and 24p.

Home Audio & Video

Google's Chromecast beams videos from your mobile device or computer directly to your television. The Chromecast is about the size of a USB flash drive and attaches to a spare HDMI port on your TV, it supports Android and iOS on the mobile side and Windows 7 / Mac OS 10.7 and higher on the co...

The Play:1 is the most affordable model in Sonos' high end wireless speakers family. It features two Class D amps, a 3.5" woofer and a high end tweeter. It's packed in a rounded sealed case and sports a 1/4" 20 threaded insert in order to easily mount it to the wall.

The Roku 3 has solidified the company's position as one of the most popular set top boxes. The Roku 3 features a faster processor than its predecessor, dual-band Wi-Fi support, as well as a revamped user interface that should make discovering content from its 750 partner channels a lot easier.

The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a last-generation console and home entertainment system featuring a x86-64 AMD "Jaguar" SoC, 8GB of RAM and 500GB of storage. Sony incorporates a touchscreen and a share button on the new DualShock 4 controller and enables a view of in-game play streamed live from friends.

The Xbox One is the successor to Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console. It features an eight-core x86 CPU with more than 5 billion transistors, 8GB of system memory and a 500GB hard drive. The system includes a Blu-ray drive, 802.11n Wireless with Wi-Fi Direct, HDMI In/Out and USB 3.0. Every Xbox One ships with a Kinect and with this generation Microsoft is pushing to become a de facto TV companion going beyond gaming.

The BenQ W1070 is a projector capable of 1080p HD video playback. It features a 5 per cent vertical lens shift, 2,000 ANSI lumens and 3D capabilities. At the back you will find two HDMI inputs, VGA, component, composite, S-video inputs and one mini-USB service port. There...

The SoundLink Mini is Bose's smallest and portable speaker. It only weights 1.5 pounds and features Bluetooth pairing, input source (aux), a power jack and 3.5-mm line input which is located on the right side. The SoundLink battery life lasts 7 hours of playback from its 7.4V, 2330m...